Oh we run just to find a way to change, its good to get away sometimes

Oh goodness, where to start. Well, its been a whirlwind since I last updated so as these things go I will try and hit the main points.

Flew back to Michigan from my Florida adventure and was there a grand total of 17 days before turning back around.  During my 17 days back in Wayland I had frequented the one and only coffee shop daily, searching for jobs, studying, and in all trying to figure out life plans.  Thru my sister I found a job lead, and within 3 days of submitting my application I was hired!  Although not a long term position, this work will give me enough time and security to figure out my next move. I did enjoy my time back in the mitten though, hanging out with the high school cross country teams, getting together with my biking group in Kalamazoo, presenting a travelogue to my old Pfizer colleagues, and making a little pilgrimage back to Ann Arbor to see some long lost college friends.  The saturday morning mrun pancake run was definitely a hi-light (along with the FREAKING amazing football game that followed) :)

So for now I am back in the sunshine state, sharing a room and a car with my favorite big sister :)  I start work tomorrow, always a bit nerve wracking, but this should be fun.  I will be compiling evidence for Federal and State agencies such as NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) by walking the coastlines and asking for interviews and filling out questionnaires. The rest of my time (hopefully) will be spent studying for grad school entrance exams and applying to schools. Its all a little overwhelming but being productive has kept me relatively focused these past few weeks.

Researching possible school options and creating career goals for myself has kind of psyched me up for life.  Not going to lie, still missing South Africa like crazy, but figuring out my passions and figuring out how to incorporate them all into a crazy life experience is really exciting.  Patience is something that is very hard for me right now though lol. Ok lets be honest, when has this ever been easy. Slow down Sarah, one step at a time.

So although Michigan is starting its chilly pumpkin spice latte season, I will be walking the beaches and getting sunburnt (mission already accomplished on day two).  Sorry body, you still don't get the normal seasonal progression that you are used to.

Just a small town girl

Wow, ok so lots has happened since my last post, so I will try and sum up what has went down in the life of Sarah since touching back down in the states.

RAGBRAI: Within hours of being picked up from the airport my mom informs me that there is one spot left on the bus to RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, the world's biggest bike tour with over 15,000 cyclists riding over 500 miles) and I only had a few hours to make up my mind if I wanted to come. Despite my protest of "I haven't ridden in a year" we took the bike out for a spin to make sure it was road ready. I don't think I ever really agreed to it, my mom just started making arrangements and I transferred some clothes from suitcase to backpack. Therefore, my first week in the states was spent waking up early to bike in 115 degree heat, start drinking waaaay too early, rocking out to music, eating dollar store spaghetti o's and staying up way too long hanging out with long lost friends.

Tour De Michigan: Once back in Michigan, an interesting twist of fate made it possible for me to show my friend Lucy (whom I met in Cape Town, originally from London) all that Michigan has to offer. Our sightseeing included a trip to both Bells Brewery/ Eccentric Cafe and Waterstreet Cafe (two of my favorite places in Kalamazoo), viewing of the incredible Lake Michigan on our beach day in South Haven (it has been confirmed folks, it really does look like the sea), a night on the town complete with signature martini's in Grand Rapids, and a weekend of fun in my college town, Ann Arbor. It was so much fun sharing all that my state had to offer with someone who was seeing all these special places that make up my life with new eyes. I also had a blast connecting with old friends, despite the difficulty of telling stories through the giggling (apparently I picked up a bit of an accent from za that supposedly is hilarious, lets hope that passes soon). This whole week made me realize how great of a place I live in to begin with, and that I can appreciate even after being in such a different place for so long.

Floridaaa: Still having yet to catch up on my sleep since.... (man can't even remember the last time I slept a full night) I woke up after a long night due to car trouble in Ann Arbor to take a few more hours to transfer clothes into yet another suitcase. My saving grace this time was that my sister's closet was at the destination of this trip and so it didn't matter quite so much if I forgot something because I will most likely steal all her clothes anyway (definitely came in handy because I'm not even sure if I was completely awake and coherent when I packed this time). So now I am in sunny, well more like rainy Florida catching up with my dad and sister. This will be my time to reenergize, relax, and consume my weight in Mexican food.

Its been incredibly weird to be back here in the states, but its been kind of fun to see familiar things with new eyes. I catch so much of the "classic American" things that I took for granted or didn't notice before, and find myself laughing at what some of my South African friends would think about these small town nuances. Seriously man, only in America.

My heart is definitely missing Cape Town and all the friends I left there, but I have been very thankful for the ability to jump right into traveling and exploring here to keep myself occupied. Having Cape Town friends here to reconnect with has also helped, but I know that its going to take some time coming down from such a wonderful life experience. Thank goodness for the internet, the world is definitely a much smaller place when you know that despite the miles you still have a way to stay close to your friends :)

Oh got this feeling that you can’t fight, like this city is on fire tonight, this could really be a good life, a good, good life

July marks the ending of my work here in cpt, and the beginning of freedom to do as I please with the daylight hours, a huge plus. After the last few hectic days at Regency, an office party at Spiros (local greek restaurant) commemorated both my boss Richard's birthday and the end of my time here as an intern. Strange to think that I was only meant to be here for 3 months, and here we are nearly 11 months later finally saying goodbye. Due to my departures, I was asked to write one of our monthly articles featured on the Regency website detailing my experience here, feel free to look up the web page and check out what our NGO is all about (regency dot org)

This month also gave me the opportunity to bring a little bit of America to my friends here in Hout Bay. After learning of my cooking/ baking abilities on one of our weekend trail runs (when you are together for 8+ hours at a time it is interesting how the topic of covo always ends up on food) it became apparent that a 4th of July celebration was in order. With the help of a well-timed care package from my mom I was able to recreate as best as I could the star spangled holiday, complete with "American" food (foot long hot dogs, corn on the cob, potato salad, coke and chips), the brewer kid's favorite pies (Emily's red white and blueberry and Jesse's tollhouse pie) and watching of jackass the movie. So much fun, especially when I realized this is the third continet that I have celebrated independence day on!

I have also been able to spend some quality time on the mountain with JT these past few weeks. She wanted to show me some new trails that I had yet to run and to also get in some great views that I could take pictures of (since usually pretty focused on not falling off the mountain, running into protea bushes, or spraining an ankle). I swear the vegetation here has it out for me, between the protea bushes bruising up my legs and attacking my face and the prickly devil bushes that always seem to be around when I need a good hand hold, these trail runs have definitely made their marks. Visited a geo cache, ran under some epic waterfalls, waded, through rivers swollen from winter rains, and had some ridiculously good laughs. So sad that I wont be here when she and the boys tackle Double Hout Bay and Tuffer Puffer, should be awesome races!

Also managed to get an entry into the Knysna Forest marathon this past weekend, so was able to see the Garden Route that I have heard so much about. The drive consisted of taking pictures, jamming to music, consuming ridiculous amounts of coffee and wine gums, and learning Afrikaans vocab via road signs. Translating names like Suurbaak and Buffelsjagsrivier had us both in stitches. Knysna is such a beautiful part of the country, and was so excited to see this new place the best way possible, via running :) The race was an effort to say to least (I was refusing to let a bum leg stop me from experiencing such a beautiful route) but our little Hout Bay clan stuck together and with the assistance of an undisclosed amount of pain killers and muscle relaxers I managed to get myself to the finish line (I swear one of these days my stubbornness will lead to my downfall). Ah well, first off road marathon done and dusted, next challenge please! :)

New horizon and sides from my eyes The discovery of the unknown Is something to tell the folks back home

Even though it is winter here, I find myself trying to be in nature more than ever. I want to soak everything up. I want to feel the elements and smell the earth. Feeling alive on the mountain or beside the sea. It's been nearly 10 months here and I still revel in these things. Makes me glad that I have friends training for seriously epic trail races so I can tag along for runs. Thursday was a public holiday (Youth Day, in remembrance of the Soweto Riots in 1976) and although rain (ok torrential downpours/ lightning/ thunder/ and hail) prevented a morning run, we were able to get out for the best part of the day and savor the sun when it finally came out.

Friday was a race to get through the weekday so that I could get back on the mountain, but this time at night. Around sunset a group of us headed out to do legs 2 and 3 of the Hout Bay trail, about 5 hours on the legs. The first bit I had done before, but was excited to check another new trail off the list for the second half. Lately it has been incredibly to be able to sit at my desk at work or look out the window of my apartment and see all the mountains that I have now ran/ scrambled/ hiked/ climbed. Had a blast chatting, joking, eating and singing our way around Cape Town's mountains and made some new friends in the process.

The rest of the weekend was full of friends and chilled vibes. Had an awesome braai (well braai turned epic feast) on Saturday and drove around the coast sit by the ocean to sip some coffee from La Vida and journal Sunday afternoon. Even caught a rainbow during one of the million brief but powerful rain showers we had during the weekend. Made me think of my dad, not just because of fathers day, but also remembering pulling him pulling over on our drives to Colorado on family vacation making sure to capture the double rainbows formed by the summer rains.

All of the wonderfully soothing morning showers have thrown off my sleep schedule though, its way too easy to fall back asleep on the weekend when rain is gently pounding your window and before you know it the day is half gone. And while the late nights following were great to catch up to some friends and family online, It is not the ideal way to get ready for the work week. Tuseday... here I come. Ugh.

Leave all your love and your longing behind you, can't carry it with you if you want to survive

Trail run time again! Saturday was the Old Fisherman's Trail Challenge, and another way for me to run/climb a mountain that I see every day! The 22k race started on Hout Bay beach and ran up Blackburn ravine over to Silvermine, then down to finish on Kalk Bay beach. 600m elevation change in about 6ks was tough, but being on the mountain enjoying a fresh 'winter' day is so worth it. The clouds rolled in during the day, so when we were actually on top of the mountain it was hard to see the view, but kind of made it Jurassic Park like and mysterious.

This race was also called a 'challenge' because it included additional worries of 1. not getting lost 2. making sure to punch your race passport at every checkpoint 3. making it over some pretty rough terrain. No joke, they check your kit to make sure you are carrying all the proper equipment, and a good thing too. The guy in front of me during a tough downhill took a pretty big spill and cut open his knee, I literally saw kneecap. Thankfully we were close to a checkpoint and everyone around had proper first aid. Lets just say I was a bit more cautious of the slippery rocks after that one lol.

My favorite part of the run was in the Silvermine trails. I had run there previously and gave them the nickname of Michigan Trails, because they remind me so much of what I am familiar with... trees, lots of ruts, darker brown dirt and some boardwalks. Flew through that section and felt great before heading up another pretty intense uphill, getting almost lost twice, luging down way slick wooden paths, and then down to the beach where I saw a puffer fish. So much excitement, I know. To celebrate (and get a little clean) I jumped in the ocean, much to the dismay of the locals, who think its freezing here now. Silly.

So, another week, and another mountain down.

Now that she's back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair hey hey

Picture one for this week was taken after work on friday as I decided to take my book down to the beach for the last glimmers of sunlight. Still amazed with the beautiful place that I live, the mountains are constantly changing with the light and the sea is something I can never take for granted. So despite sporadic downpours all weekend, I managed to spend the majority of my time outside enjoying nature.

Saturday's plans, being my indecisive self, were left completely up to my friend. He totally delivered by taking me to the World of Birds here in Hout Bay, a place I had been meaning to go to. Its an amazing bird sanctuary, but has pretty much any kind of animal you can think of. After a funny look from the lady examining my student card (hey, they didn't specify African student card, better believe I'm going to try for a discount) we headed straight for the monkeys. Ok so in Africa, they are pretty lax with the caging of animals. Everyone is free to saunter around with squirrel monkeys climbing all over you until your hearts content. So. Awesome. Later on I didn't appreciate the lack of barriers between us and the wildlife when owls kept sneaking up on me from behind corners/ perching over doors and seagulls pecking my feet. It was pretty cool to see the animals up close though, even if the did put the wallabies in with the tortoises and some of the penguins could use some lessons on taking baths.

Sunday was a long awaited trail run. Ever since I let my legs have a little rest the mountains out my window have been calling my name. Starting out, we ran into a fellow runner who was actually looking for a geo cache! So crazy, these things are everywhere! Helped in the search for a bit before heading up the trail starting at Suikerbossie. Headed up near Llandudno ravine and eventually made it up to the backside of Table Mountain to have lunch near the dams. Really nice to feel the legs working again, and had a beautiful day to be out in nature for a few hours. Another encounter with a hiker left us with some new trails to discover for another day, I swear I could live here for years and never find all the places to run! Thanks to all the rain, the waterfalls and dams have begun to fill and after eating I tested out one of the little brooks for its ice bath qualities. Such stunning views as well, will definitely have to run this one again and take a camera along.

The rest of the weekend was spent listening to the rain pour and drawing with my jumbo, chisel tip colorful sharpies. It was a great weekend.

As sure as night is dark and day is light I keep you on my mind both day and night

So apparently this weekend I had an incredible urge to seek out my old yoga studio in Cape Town. This is a very strange feeling due to the fact that yoga hasn't really crossed my mind in the past few months, but with winter rain, chillier temps, and less sunlight to work with my mind has apparently started to wander to alternatives to staying active (not to mention office work can really do a number on your back and neck, the poor spine really needed some tlc). Now that I have wheels :) I woke up early (I swear, I can wake up at the crack of dawn for running/ yoga/ you name it, but 9am always comes too quickly for work) and made the trip into town solo. I feel so cool, driving along. It is quite like a game, shifting your perception to the wrong side of the road, wrong side of the car, shifting with the wrong hand. But I have been surprised with how well your brain adapts to things like this. Oh the mystery that is the mind.

Anyway, got to yoga in once piece and on-time. Was a bit hesitant when I saw that my previous instructor was actually taking the class with me (I was then trying to wrack my brains to remember if there was a skill level or difficulty associated with this particular Saturday class, seeing as this whole idea was slightly last minute per my life lately) but everything turned out ok. Was a bit on the inexperienced side of things for this class (being a bit out of practice didn't help my cause) but the wonderful thing about yoga is that there is always a more difficult pose, so no one is ever really at the top. People are falling over doing balances and muscles are twitching, its a strug fest for everyone regardless of the level. After an an hour and a half, my body was so pleasantly stretched/ worked/ relaxed I had a bite to eat then decided to take a little walk around the waterfront and visit my favorite shop Cape Union Mart to ogle the lovely outdoors stuff. I think I could live in that place.

Was pumped to be going to the movies this weekend as well. I realized that the last movie I saw in theaters was Spud, which was in Durban last November. While waiting for a friend to get off work, I wandered back to the neighborhood I used to work in (Gardens) to the best little coffee shop/bar/ hookah lounge. Reading a book by candlelight, sipping on some coffee as you listen to Johnny Cash records, can't get much better. I loved being back in The City too. Everything feels so familiar, like I'm back living in Perspectives, working on Hope street and running down to the reservoir everyday. Good times. Crazy to think thats where it all began, couldn't have imagined back then that I would still be here now. Speaking of movies, I also just re-watched Blood Diamond this week and nearly had a heart attack when they showed Cape Town! I hadn't watched the movie since I came to Africa and couldn't even remember that parts of it took place here. Soooo trippy, especially because the last bit was shot at the waterfront, just where I had spent the afternoon!

Has really been good to reconnect with people back home recently as well. Now that school is finishing up I can see people de-stressing and getting into the summer mode. Really great to hear from everyone, and making me excited to make plans for when I return home. Will be sad to say goodbye to this place I love so much, but I will be back. Besides, I have to come back to run the Comrades right? :) 90ks huh... better give me a bit to prepare